Draft Strategic Framework on Gender and Women’s ... - dti

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARYD raft Strategic Framework on Gender and women sEconomic empowerment 2007 ASGI-SA Accelerated and Shared GrowthInitiative for South AfricaBEEB lack Economic EmpowermentCEDAW Convention for the Elimination ofAll Forms of Discriminationagainst women CEOC hief Executive OfficerCIPROC ompanies and IntellectualProperty Registration OfficeDTI Department of Trade and IndustryEPIE conomic Performance Indicators ESCdefinitionGCISG overnment Communication andInformation SystemGDPG ross Domestic ProductGEMG ender Entrepreneurship MarketsGMSG ender Management SystemGWEG ender and women sEmpowerment UnitGWEAC Gender and women s EconomicEmpowerment AdvisoryCommitteeICTI nformation and CommunicationTechnologyIDCI ndustrial DevelopmentCorporationIFCI nternational Finance CorporationIPII nstitutional PerformanceIndicators ITInformation TechnologyKZNKwa Zulu NatalLBSCL ocal Business Services CentreLEDL ocal Economic Development LIBSAL impopo Business SupportAgencyNCBWO National Committee for BusinessWomen s OrganizationsNEFN ational empowerment FundNGONon-Governmental OrganizationsNQFN ational Qualification FrameworkOSWO ffice of the Status of WomenPGDP rovincial GovernmentDepartmentRDPR econstruction and DevelopmentProgrammeRFIR etail Financial IntermediariesRPLR ecognition of Prior LearningSASouth AfricaSADCS outhern African DevelopmentCommunitySAQIS outh African Quality InstituteSAWEN South African WomenEntrepreneurs NetworkSAWICS outh African women inConstructionSAWIDS outh African women in DialogueSAWIMA

2 South African women in MiningAssociationSEDAS mall Enterprise DevelopmentAgencySMMES mall, Medium, and MicroEnterprises SPIIS upport Programme for IndustrialInnovationTWIBT echnology for women inBusinessWEPW omen Enterprise ProgrammeThe Strategic Framework on Gender and women s Economic empowerment 2006iiABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMSthe dti Gender & women s empowerment UnitiiiiFOREWORDSA Government, Fast Tracking Womens Economic empowerment through the dti 2007and beyond. The performance of the South African economy over the past year has strengthened our capacityand resolve for action. We attained a GDP growth rate of almost 5%. Interest rates dropped to theirlowest levels in 25 years and the inflation rate hit a 35-year low. Business and consumer confidencesurged to new heights.

3 What s more, financial stability and positive sentiment have fed into the realeconomy, where from March to September of 2005, employment grew by close to 400 000 we take heart from the great strides that have been made, we are all too aware that this isnot the hour for celebration. Considerable challenges remain, not least those of unemployment and these, the imperative is to harness the existing momentum in the economy from all SA,including men and women . Through our Gender and women s empowerment initiatives, the dtiwillcontinue to accelerate the empowerment of women . How we intend to do this is well documentedin this document through several interventions proposed. These ranges from growing and supportingwomen entrepreneurship, providing them easy and affordable access to finance and technologywith the ultimate aim of assisting them to produce quality products.

4 South African women entrepreneurs are indeed the backbone of the second economy more so acritical factor in creating a vibrant manufacturing and services sectors that could create sustainableemployment opportunities required to grow our economy. The Strategic Framework on Genderand women s Economic empowerment ,which is our sister strategy of the BEE strategy, istherefore central to all our programmes aimed at promoting broader participation , equity andredress lie at the heart of the government s interventions in the Second Economy. Through it, wehope to broaden the base of empowering our people. As the dtiwe have an important role to playin this regard, through its ongoing work to bridge the economic divide and broaden economicparticipation by historically disadvantaged people, who the majority continues to be black andwomen.

5 I therefore invite all organs of the state, the private sector, trade unions and all SouthAfricans to work with us as we fast track the empowerment of women which will ultimately benefitSouth Africa as a nation. Mr. Mandisi Mpahlwa: MPMinister of Trade and IndustryThe Strategic Framework on Gender and women s Economic empowerment 2006iiiiiiThis Strategic Framework on Gender and women s Economic Empowermentprovidesguidance, focus, and specific recommendations for the support required to ensure women s fullparticipation in our economy. As such, it is an important milestone in the economic emancipation ofwomen in South Africa. Ten years after our first democratic elections, women now have more freedom and substantialinstitutional support to actively engage in economic activity and in business.

6 The relative successof our economy since 1994 has also opened up extensive business opportunities for women . Yet itis clear that this progress is insufficient, as the majority of women are still located in the lowerechelons of our economy. It is necessary for the dtito ensure that institutional support for womenin business is formalized and to continually search for new and innovative ways in which women inbusiness can be supported. We also need to ensure that our economy continues to grow and isable to accommodate new entrants. The support given to women should seek to fully empower them so that they are able to benefitfrom our democratic reforms, be it politically, socially or economically. These three areas ofempowerment are deeply interwoven, and empowerment in one area will not be fully achievedwithout empowerment in the others.

7 It is therefore necessary that the dti Strategic Framework onGender and women s Economic Empowermenttakes a holistic view of how to empower womenand to give support to initiatives that will, among other things, create strong institutions to representwomen entrepreneurs and become advocates of addressing the unique challenges faced by womenin business. The work that has been done over the past few years, complemented by growing global markets,is expected to generate substantial economic growth in South Africa in the near future. South Africaranks among the top African nations and the 28th globally in the World Bank Group s DoingBusiness in 2006 report. During this period, women must be at the forefront of driving economicgrowth and must take advantage of the new opportunities that will emerge.

8 The dtihas made a commitment to support women in their drive towards greater economicempowerment and to ensure that women in business are actively supported through incentives,information sharing, trade missions, improved access to finance, business support and, whereappropriate, other opportunities. We are also committed to ensuring that women s views on policy and legislative issues are heardin line with South Africa s international commitment through the Beijing Platform for Action. Thedetails of our commitment to supporting women in business are covered in this look forward to actively engaging with all stakeholders in this sector to update and refine Elizabeth ThabetheDeputy Minister of Trade and IndustryINTRODUCTORY REMARKSTABLE OF CONTENTS2 ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS.

9 OF CASE FOR A Strategic Framework ON OF REGIONAL CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOPS ..4 INTRODUCTION ..5 CHAPTER 1: THE VISION, MISSION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE VISION .. MISSION .. GUIDING APPROACHES ..8 CHAPTER 2: TARGETED SPECIFIC SUBGROUPS AND DEFINITIONS .. Strategic 3: FOCUSED PROGRAM women AND THE FINANCIAL MOBILISING AND STRENGTHENING SA women IN ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION, TRAINING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT .. TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT .. ENGENDERING BLACK ECONOMIC women IN BUSINESS LEADERSHIP .. RESEARCH AND 4: PROCESS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE STRATEGY ..17 CHAPTER 5: MONITORING AND EVALUATION ..18 MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT ..19 GLOSSARY ..20the dti Gender & women s empowerment UnitThe Strategic Framework on Gender and women s Economic empowerment 20063 The Strategic Framework on Gender and women s Economic Empowermentis guided by anoverall vision, mission and objectives and has been informed by a number of guiding principlesfrom broader-based government initiatives and by international standards with respect to women sempowerment.

10 This Framework has been developed and is being proposed because existinggovernment strategies and initiatives related to economic empowerment often do not specificallyinclude a Gender focus. When Gender is mentioned or included, it is often in a tangential way, andis not fully integrated. This Framework will ensure that Gender concerns are addressed throughoutgovernment, and in other initiatives, such as the SMME and BEE example, in the Strategic Framework of the Black Economic empowerment strategy, Gender ismentioned, but in a very broad way: Broad-based black economic empowerment (broad-based BEE)means the economicempowerment of all black people including women , workers, youth, People with disabilities andpeople living in rural areas, through diverse but Integrated socio-economic In fact, as stated in the BEE Strategy document, a lesson learned from earlier economic equityefforts was that, without a dedicated strategy for BEE, the needs of the population remainedinadequately addressed.